Founding Director of College Admissions Consulting (United States)

About PolarisWise

PolarisWise is a U.S.-based education company focused on student development, college success, and the future of personalized education.

Founded by an education leadership team with nearly two decades of experience in international education and U.S. college admissions, PolarisWise is building an integrated education ecosystem that combines strategic advising, admissions expertise, mentorship, career exploration, student development, and technology.

Our work spans the full student journey—from self-discovery, academic and personal development, and career exploration to college admissions, transition, and long-term success.

Beyond direct student services, PolarisWise is also developing technology-enabled education products, professional advisor networks, institutional partnerships, and new models of collaboration with schools and education organizations in the United States, China, and other global markets.

We are currently building our U.S. leadership team and are looking for entrepreneurial education leaders who want to help shape not only a service model, but a broader platform for student growth and educational innovation.

The Role

This is a senior leadership and builder role for someone with deep expertise in selective U.S. college admissions and high-quality college advising.

The Founding Head of AO & Essay Consultants will be responsible for building and leading our network of former Admissions Officers and Essay Consultants, establishing professional standards, recruiting and training consultants, overseeing service quality, and helping develop PolarisWise's admissions and essay-related products.

This person will also work directly with selected students, participate in product and workflow design, support marketing and educational programming, and represent PolarisWise in selected external partnerships and events.

As PolarisWise grows, this role may also contribute to broader product development, institutional partnerships, professional education programs, and new student-development initiatives beyond traditional college admissions.

The role works closely with the Founder & CEO, Strategic Consultant leadership, Platform Product, and Global Advisor Operations.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Talent Development

• Build and lead the Admissions Officer and Essay Consultant teams.
• Define professional qualifications, hiring standards, and consultant competencies.
• Participate actively in recruiting, interviewing, and selecting new consultants.
• Develop onboarding, training, and professional-development programs.
• Establish performance expectations and quality-control standards.
• Coach consultants and provide ongoing professional feedback.
• Identify performance issues and recommend retraining, reassignment, or removal when necessary.

Admissions & Application Quality

• Establish professional standards for student competitiveness assessments, application strategy, college-list review, and final application review.
• Develop standards and frameworks for essay strategy, brainstorming, essay development, and quality review.
• Ensure effective collaboration among Strategic Consultants, Admissions Officers, and Essay Consultants.
• Review complex or high-priority student cases.
• Provide senior-level professional judgment when teams need additional guidance.
• Ensure that students' applications are strategically coherent, authentic, differentiated, and aligned with their long-term development.

Product Design & Service Innovation

• Participate directly in the design and continuous improvement of PolarisWise products.
• Help develop new AO-, essay-, and application-review services.
• Refine SOPs, professional frameworks, review templates, and service standards.
• Identify opportunities to simplify and improve service delivery.
• Work with the Platform Product team to translate professional workflows into scalable technology-enabled processes.
• Use client, consultant, and market feedback to continuously improve the service model.

Client Advising

• Personally advise a selected portfolio of students, particularly complex, high-priority, or representative cases.
• Participate in key student and family meetings when senior admissions expertise is needed.
• Provide professional guidance on admissions strategy, application positioning, and final application review.

Market & External Engagement

• Participate in webinars, parent seminars, student workshops, mock admissions events, and other educational programming.
• Support the development of professional content and thought leadership.
• Represent PolarisWise at selected conferences, school visits, professional events, and partner meetings.
• Help develop relationships with schools, educators, admissions professionals, and other external partners.
• Support PolarisWise's U.S. market development and selected international partnerships.

Travel & Global Collaboration

• Willing and able to travel within the United States, China, and other international locations as needed.
• Travel may include team training, internal meetings, school and institutional visits, conferences, client events, recruiting, and partnership development.
• Comfortable collaborating with teams and professionals across multiple time zones.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in selective U.S. college admissions, college counseling, or high-level college advising.
• Strong understanding of holistic admissions at highly selective U.S. universities.
• Strong professional judgment in student positioning, application strategy, and essay evaluation.
• Experience managing, training, mentoring, or supervising counselors, admissions professionals, or consultants.
• Demonstrated ability to develop professional standards and translate expertise into repeatable processes.
• Strong leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Comfortable working in an entrepreneurial environment where systems and teams are still being built.
• Comfortable working with both U.S.-based and international students and families.
• Able to work periodically across U.S. and Asia time zones.
• Willing and able to travel within the United States, China, and other international locations as needed.

Strongly Preferred

• Former admissions experience at a highly selective U.S. university.
• Previous leadership experience in college counseling, admissions consulting, or a related education organization.
• Experience hiring and managing distributed professional teams.
• Experience with international students and Asian families.
• Experience in product development, service design, or technology-enabled education.

Who Will Thrive in This Role

We are looking for someone who is not only an excellent admissions professional, but also a builder and leader.

The right person enjoys developing people, creating systems, improving products, solving complex student cases, and turning professional expertise into scalable and consistent service delivery.

This role is particularly well suited for someone who wants to have meaningful influence over how a new education company is built - not simply inherit an existing counseling program.

Why PolarisWise

As an early member of the PolarisWise leadership team, you will have meaningful influence over:

Team → Professional Standards → SOP → Product → Platform → Client Experience

You will help shape how PolarisWise recruits and develops talent, delivers high-quality admissions services, builds new products, and expands its presence in the U.S. and internationally.

To Apply

Please submit:

• Your resume.
• A brief introduction describing your experience in college admissions or college counseling.
• Your experience managing or training professional teams.
• Your experience with application strategy and essay advising.
• Your current location and availability.
• Your willingness to travel within the United States, China, and other international locations as needed.

Salary Range:

$100,000–$115,000 per year, depending on experience, leadership background, and overall fit.

Performance-based incentives may be available.